Hi Mia,

This is interesting, thank you! We experienced an attack in early January, so this is broadly relevant.

The more I dig into this, the more I think it's a workflow issue due to Microsoft Defender, rather than a security risk. Initially the concern was about open-source programs in general, but I was able to provide enough information about OpenRefine to address that.

Cheers,

Katherine

Katherine O'Brien (She / Her)
Application Administrator, Online Services
The University of Notre Dame Australia
Phone: +61 8 9433 0703 | University Library<https://library.nd.edu.au/home>
ND39 Fremantle Campus, Nyungar boodjar
I respect and acknowledge the Traditional owners of the land on which I live and work as the First People and Custodians of this country.


________________________________
From: Code for Libraries <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Mia (will not see replies to gmail) <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 01 December 2025 8:47 PM
To: [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] OpenRefine - seeking advice for institutional devices

Hi Katherine,

I don't know if it would help to tell your IT department that British
Library Technology have allowed OpenRefine installs on managed laptops
despite the very, very strict requirements after the big 2023 ransomware
attack? But I don't know if they encountered the issue in your third point.

Cheers,
Mia

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On Mon, 1 Dec 2025 at 03:52, Katherine O'Brien <[log in to unmask]>
wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I'm trying to get approval to install OpenRefine on my university-owned
> device, but my request has been rejected due to security and management
> concerns. I'd love to hear from anyone using OpenRefine in an institutional
> context. How do you or your IT department manage it?
>
> Here are the main concerns raised by the IT department:
>
>
>   1.
> Lack of vendor support for open-source software
> I explained that OpenRefine has an active developer and user community,
> plus plenty of online training resources. This is no longer a concern.
>   2.
> Manual update processes
> I shared that OpenRefine is available through various package
> repositories, which they agreed could work.
>   3.
> Microsoft Defender cannot detect OpenRefine
> The issue is that OpenRefine uses a non-standard installation architecture
> and lacks a digital signature for its CPE, preventing Defender from
> identifying it. They said that since there’s no way to manually intervene,
> it creates challenges for vulnerability management.
>
> I posted about this on the OpenRefine discussion board<
> https://forum.openrefine.org/t/misunderstood-requirements-preventing-the-use-of-openrefine/1865>
> and got helpful feedback, but Point 3 remains a blocker. Has anyone
> successfully addressed this issue with institutional devices?
>
> Thanks in advance for any insights!
>
> Katherine
>
> Katherine O'Brien (She / Her)
> Application Administrator, Online Services
> The University of Notre Dame Australia
> Phone: +61 8 9433 0703 | University Library<https://library.nd.edu.au/home
> >
> ND39 Fremantle Campus, Nyungar boodjar
> I respect and acknowledge the Traditional owners of the land on which I
> live and work as the First People and Custodians of this country.
>
> [promotional banner. Crest logo of the University of Notre Dame Australia.
> Fremantle, Broome, Sydney. ND6259. CRICOS Provider: 01032F]<
> https://www.notredame.edu.au/>
>
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